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Modi pursuing personalised foreign policy bereft of direction: Congress

In its 84th Plenary session, the Congress said Modi’s tendency to disparage his predecessors and diminish India’s achievements since Independence has undercut the country’s credibility abroad.

Updated on: Mar 18, 2018, 13:04:25 IST
Indo Asian News Service, New Delhi | By
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The Congress on Sunday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for pursuing a “personalised foreign policy”, saying it was “confused and bereft of focus and direction”.

Chairperson of Congress Parliamentary Party, Sonia Gandhi during the 84th Plenary Session of Indian National Congress (INC) at Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi, on Saturday. (PTI Photo)
Chairperson of Congress Parliamentary Party, Sonia Gandhi during the 84th Plenary Session of Indian National Congress (INC) at Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi, on Saturday. (PTI Photo)

In its 84th Plenary session, the party noted that the Modi’s tendency to disparage his predecessors and diminish India’s achievements since Independence has undercut the country’s credibility abroad.

Moving the resolution on foreign policy, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said the Prime Minister was known for his “propaganda” and condemned his actions of showing disrespect to the party’s predecessors saying: “It is not an insult to the Congress party or its leaders, but an insult to the nation.”

The resolution said: “Foreign policy has always been marked with continuity with the backing of a strong national consensus. Unfortunately, the BJP government has disrupted it, and its ill-advised actions have unravelled the national consensus.

“The government is carried away by its own propaganda, and has mismanaged India’s relations with major partner countries. Its foreign policy is confused and bereft of focus and direction.

“The Prime Minister has pursued a personalised foreign policy. The foreign policy engagements and (Modi’s) visits abroad, have been reduced to being purely transactional.

“The discarding of India’s historic role in the Non-Aligned Movement, and the continuous dismissal of our past accomplishments in foreign policy, led to the piquant situation of foreign leaders hailing Nehru’s contributions at the Indo-African Forum Summit and the 50th Anniversary of the Bandung Conference.

“Regrettably, the official Indian speeches omitted all mention of his (Nehru’s), and India’s, major contributions.”

The resolution added: “The world today, is going through a comprehensive transformation in international relations.

“This is a period of unusual uncertainty and unexpected changes. This poses complex challenges for our foreign policy. A rapidly transforming and uncertain global landscape, demands a carefully crafted national security strategy.”

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